The fifth annual Arnold Kiwanis Club Giving and Light Fair will be held from 1-5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, at the Fox C-6 Service Center, 849 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold.
The event will feature free photos with Santa, giveaways, children’s activities, a silent auction and a quilt raffle. Fredbird also will be on hand.
Admission is free. However, the group requests participants donate one unwrapped toy or a nonperishable food item.
The toys will be given to the Fox High School Lettermen’s Club and the Women’s Crisis Nursery at Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Crystal City to be distributed to local families in need. The food will be given to the Arnold Food Pantry and Brenden’s Friday Backpacks program, said organizer Carole Yount, a member of the Kiwanis Club.
Young said the Kiwanis club focuses on helping local children.
“Just being able to give something to the kids is special. We are all about being able to provide something like a Chromebook to a child,” she said. “It is nice to be able to give back to the community. It is always fun for the kids.”
This year’s fair will have two new activities, including a visit from Heroes for Kids, a nonprofit organization based in Perryville whose members dress up as superheroes and are available for photos.
In addition, the Missouri Freemasons will register children for the Missouri Child Identification Program (MoCHIP), which allows parents to store their children’s photos, fingerprints and other information on a disk compatible with the Amber Alert system in case their child goes missing. Parents also will receive a dental bit impression of their child’s teeth and two laminated ID cards.
“This is something parents will be very interested in having for their children,” Yount said.
She said the event also will include at least 10 booths offering activities, like ornament and picture frame making, face painting, writing letters to Santa and playing bingo. Members of the Fox and Seckman high schools’ key clubs and other Fox C-6 School District organizations will help children with the activities.
Rockport Heights Elementary School staff members will give away socks, and Lone Dell Elementary School staff members will give children hats and gloves.
“There is plenty going on to keep children busy as they wait to meet Santa,” Yount said.
Children also may enter a free raffle for a Chromebook. Funding to buy 10 Chromebooks to give away was provided by area businesses and the Arnold Tourism Commission, which also provides money to advertise the event, Yount said.
A silent auction and a raffle for a car-themed quilt that was displayed at the club’s October car show will be held to raise funds for the Kiwanis Club. Proceeds will be used to provide scholarships and other projects benefiting kids, Yount said.
For more information about the event, call Yount at 314-401-2669 or email her at younthome@yahoo.com. People also may go to the club’s Facebook page or contact a club member, Yount said.
The Kiwanis Club has two meetings a month, a lunch meeting at noon on the second Tuesday of each month at the Wesley Roger’s Steak and Buffet, 3601 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold, and the other at 8 a.m. on the fourth Tuesday at Sunny Street Cafe, 850 Arnold Commons Drive, in Arnold.